The Backlog Check-in Vol. 345: 8/10/24: EA Sports Madden NFL 25 Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Second Life

Finished: Nothing

Playing; Second Life

Added: Nothing

Games releasing this week
Aery - Ancient Empires
Arco
Arena Breakout: Infinite
Artifice: War Tactics
Castaway
Colonies of the Remnant
Cricket: Jae’s Really Peculiar Game
Dawn of Defiance
Deep Rock Galactic - Space Beach Party 2024
Demonsomnia
Dredge - The Iron Ring
EA Sports Madden NFL 25
Elrentaros Wanderings
Farewell North
Feed the Deep
Guayota
Hellbreach: Vegas
Hidden Through Time 2: Discovery
House of Golf 2
Hunt: Showdown 1896
I Am Your Beast
Just Crow Things
Kiborg: Arena
Leximan
Love, Ghostie
Magical Delicacy
Operation: Polygon Storm
Overboss
Phantom Spark
Rewind or Die
Tales & Tactics
Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered
Shapez 2
Shoulders of Giants
Stormgate
Streets of Rogue 2
Sugoi Adventure! DragonSlayer
SunnySide
To the Stars
Warcana
White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies Complete Edition

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Jeanne d'Arc PS5

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 44 games

Made a good amount of progress in Jeanne d'Arc and almost have a full complement of team members! I am getting the whole experience of why I thought it was a fantastic game back in the day - definitely holds up for me.

[crimson_tide]

Ah, Madden is here. Here comes video games !

Played: Sakura Wars. I have a lot of thoughts. Let's just say Infinite Wealth is VERY VERY safe in the top spot after completing this one . It wasn't bad per session but I have a LOT of thoughts. I will spare y'all. For now. Also Megaton Musashi W. Even having played through a good chunk of SMT3 (still working on it izzy, saving it for my commute in the fall, imma finish it. Scout's honor), this is the most PS2 game I have played this year. Playing it in small chunks, I think that's how it's going to work best for me. Also starting Chained Echoes again. Because mecha. I told y'all I am in my mecha arc ! Oh and a really good chunk of Fenyx Rising for no particular reason...not a single mecha in that one. Guess it was just for fun?

Finished: Sakura Wars (finally out of the backlog!!!!!!)

Bought: Final Fantasy 1-6 Pixel Remasters, Borderlands Pandora's Box both for Steam Deck and Metal Mac Xeno Reborn for PS4.

Friends, I have a thought for the next game club: play a series! I keep getting chunks of series and need to start churning through them. So I can list what I have and y'all vote on my next series. Obviously, this could be a huge undertaking. So instead of cataloging our journeys all in one thread, we can start our own threads after we vote on what each other will play and move at our own pace. I know our backlogs are clogged with some series we just never got around to and this could be a way to find a new favorite or realize you made a terrible mistake ! I just played through the first Mega Man Legacy Collection. I would like to churn through another series. Thoughts? If your not interested, I still might post a list for y'all to vote on to help my analysis paralysis.

[canedaddy]

Played recently: Everybody's Golf

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 40


I didn't feel like jumping into another game world after Moonlighter so I've just been playing Everybody's Golf as a palate cleanser. Apparently we're never getting another one of these? Bummer.

[argyle]

Games added: Piczle Puzzle Pack, Serial Cleaners, Citizens Unite!, Monster Hunter Stories, Dave the Diver, Sanabi, Wargroove 1+2, Vernal Edge (all Switch)

Last week: Finished nothing, played Owlboy, Shadow of the Erdtree, and a little Piczle Puzzle Pack

This week: Same - should finish off Owlboy, it's a short one.

Had a big Play-Asia order come in last week that I had placed a couple months back. Erdtree has its hooks firmly in me, there's a good chance I'll finish it off this week as well. I finished off one of the main bosses of the DLC last night (and I actually got him on my second try!). Calling it DLC just doesn't seem right - I didn't clock it, but I feel like I'm going to have in the neighborhood of 100 hours in it by the time it's all said & done. Crazy how big it is.

I'll have thoughts on Owlboy once I wrap it up later this week. Wanted to knock something out of my backlog and just happened to pick it.

Crim, I like the idea - let me think on it. I don't think I have any series in my backlog that I haven't played ANY of, but I do have at least a couple (maybe more) where I played some amount of the first game but didn't finish it and I've been wanting to go back & replay that first game and then finish the series.

[jfissel]

I didn't feel like jumping into another game world after Moonlighter so I've just been playing Everybody's Golf as a palate cleanser. Apparently we're never getting another one of these? Bummer.

Just have to enjoy the ones we already got I guess.

Friends, I have a thought for the next game club: play a series! I keep getting chunks of series and need to start churning through them. So I can list what I have and y'all vote on my next series. Obviously, this could be a huge undertaking. So instead of cataloging our journeys all in one thread, we can start our own threads after we vote on what each other will play and move at our own pace. I know our backlogs are clogged with some series we just never got around to and this could be a way to find a new favorite or realize you made a terrible mistake ! I just played through the first Mega Man Legacy Collection. I would like to churn through another series. Thoughts? If your not interested, I still might post a list for y'all to vote on to help my analysis paralysis.

I think the only series I have are Phoenix Wright trilogy, Spyro trilogy, and LEGO Harry Potter 1 & 2. I'm not counting the 3 random Final Fantasy games in my backlog. Could definitely play one of those series next.

[isthatallyougot]

Glad to see you're still chipping away at SMT3 crim. Hope it stays interesting for you. And I like your idea, and am very happy to contribute a vote for you. But, I struggle without variety in my gaming life. I don't think I'd enjoy playing a whole series at once. I mean, I could force myself, but why would I do that.

I'm still playing Morrowind and working slowly on a long quest line that seems to be taking me to the end.

I also have been playing (and apparently almost finished with) a really interesting game called FUMIKO! It's a really digitally-infused, tech-trippy world where you embody this ai as she/it tries to remember and achieve some sort of liberation or something. The audiovisual package is, for me, *outstanding*. It's got some issues that hold it back a bit, but it has been one hell of a (relatively brief - half a dozen hours or so) ride. If you like the TRON or REZ aesthetics, you might want to check it out. Here's a recent image for your enjoyment.



Still images can't really translate the incredible vibe properly. And the music is incredible. Such an interesting and creative title made exclusively by a single person from what I gather.

[canedaddy]

Friends, I have a thought for the next game club: play a series! I keep getting chunks of series and need to start churning through them. So I can list what I have and y'all vote on my next series. Obviously, this could be a huge undertaking. So instead of cataloging our journeys all in one thread, we can start our own threads after we vote on what each other will play and move at our own pace. I know our backlogs are clogged with some series we just never got around to and this could be a way to find a new favorite or realize you made a terrible mistake ! I just played through the first Mega Man Legacy Collection. I would like to churn through another series. Thoughts? If your not interested, I still might post a list for y'all to vote on to help my analysis paralysis.

I will give this some thought. It does sound daunting, but a series of shorter games might work for me. Looking forward to seeing your options.

[argyle]

I forgot to comment on it earlier - so what's the deal w/ no more Everybody's Golf? Another studio get killed by Sony? It sucks that they've decided to only make big cinematic action/adventure games - their more niche stuff was always what I loved about them.

[crimson_tide]

Megaton Musashi W is just going in the chill comfort game pile. This game is abso****ing-lutely MY ****! I want to savor it. This is just a PS2 ass PS2 game. It's so PS2 that Level 5 made it. HOWEVER...much like whatever was going on with Ni No Kuni 2, this is almost a mobile/MMO game. Every mission gives you way too much loot. There's daily login bonuses. There's a pvp colosseum AND online co op missions. THAT BEING SAID, this is just a dumb PS2 rental game you would get and go a little further in every time you rented it until it ended up in your collection as a the free game in your buy 2 get 1 because there's zero reason you shouldn't own it.

How did Level 5 just not market this game? It's just shonen anime (DBZ, One Piece, etc). It looks like an anime. It sounds like one too. It is not the prettiest belle at the ball but it's good clean dumb mecha fighting fun. You can pick parts on your mech and go out on missions with your team with a good amount of melee and ranged weapons. I have just been running roughshod over fools. They even have special attacks where you just want them to yell out FORM BLAZING SWORD . But I'm going to not rush through. It's also got the rental vibe of being fun in spurts. I think a long play session would burn me out. If it's ever sub $20 or gets a demo, give it a go especially if you want that PS2 feel!

As for the game club idea, I don't want anyone to feel bogged down. That's why I proposed whichever games are chosen, we make individual threads and go through them at our own pace. Example: if you cats say play Trails of Cold Steel, guess what? I will be playing that over the course of a year or more because each of those games is like 60-80 hours and there's FOUR of them. Same goes for most current RPG's. However, if it were Sly Cooper, that's comparatively a smaller ask plus I could do it portable on the Vita. We will be moving at different places too because, you know, life. So everyone should put forward things they feel comfortable with. Most of mine will be Steam Deck based because I will be commuting again very soon. Additionally, it doesn't have to be a whole series. For example, if I put up Final Fantasy, I will just be doing the pixel remaster games. It could be a short series like Dark Cloud with its 2 entries. It could be the parts you own of a series but never got into. Maybe you have some chunk of Yakuza or just the last few Mario RPG's or something. It's a very nebulous and malleable framework. Regardless, let me know what you guys think of you're down !